The menopause is a puzzle for biologists. Why would the female of a species cease to reproduce half way through her life, when natural selection favours characteristics that help an individual's genes survive? A study of killer whales - one of only two mammals apart from humans to undergo the menopause - is providing clues.

Roughly a decade ago, a team of biologists glued audio recording devices onto the backs of a handful of elephant seals on the California coast. They wanted to know if the seals — identified as males by their cartoonish faces with trunk-like noses — make noises as they swim out to sea in search of food.

Underwater recorders have picked up the sounds of orcas in places they haven’t previously been detected

“Our results say that if we restore whale populations to pre-whaling levels seen at the beginning of the 20th century, we’ll restore a huge amount of lost function to ocean ecosystems,” researchers said.

The plan to build North America’s first wild refuge for whales retired from marine parks was poised to take a big step forward Friday in a remote corner of northeastern Nova Scotia. The Whale Sanctuary Project is expected to officially open its visitor and operations centre in Sherbrooke, N.S., marking the first time the U.S.-based conservation group has moved from the planning phase to actually building something.

AMAMI, Kagoshima -- A record 1,087 humpback whales in 670 pods were observed migrating to waters off Amami-Oshima island

The world's largest animals are unusually good at taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

A humpback whale was ready for its close-up frolicked in front of the Statue of Liberty, One World Trade Center and other iconic sights off New York Harbor on Tuesday.

Almost 100 pilot whales have died in a mass stranding on New Zealand's remote Chatham Islands, conservation officials said Wednesday. Most of the marine mammals beached themselves over the weekend but rescue efforts were hampered by the area's isolated location, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) east of the South Island, the Department of Conservation (DOC) said.

More than 100 whales stranded on a Sri Lankan beach have been guided to the sea in an overnight rescue operation. Three pilot whales and one dolphin died of their injuries following the mass beaching near the city of Panadura, south of the capital Colombo. The rescue was conducted by the navy, with help from environmental protection officers, police and local residents.

A controversial environment chief in the Trump administration has said he has no intention of leaving his post after a US district court judge deemed his tenure and ongoing occupation of the position illegal. William Perry Pendley, head of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), said this week that the judge’s ruling “has no impact, no impact whatsoever”.

A drop in shipping traffic is reducing underwater noise, so scientists are listening for how whales and other marine life are responding.

The Northern California coast tends to get its fair share of sightings of humpback whales and gray whales, but the largest mammals on earth, blue whales, don't do swim-bys quite so often as other species. This year, all rules are out the window.

Citing the pandemic, whale watching, and a lack of exports, one of the three largest whaling countries may be calling it quits.

Scientists say they have seen a remarkable collection of blue whales in the coastal waters around the UK sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. Their 23-day survey counted 55 animals - a total that is unprecedented in the decades since commercial whaling ended. South Georgia was the epicentre for hunting in the early 20th Century. The territory's boats with their steam-powered harpoons were pivotal in reducing Antarctic blues to just a few hundred individuals.

Two environmental groups announced that they will file a lawsuit to protect endangered beluga whales whose numbers have plummeted recently.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — An aquarium and an engineering firm in Massachusetts are partnering on a project to better protect whales by monitoring them from space.

The once struggling New York Harbor whale population is now rebounding with water clean-up initiatives and these faithful citizen scientists’ efforts.

The largest heart on earth — a 400-pound blood-pumping machine — beats about 13 times a minute. That’s according to scientists' first recordings of the heart of a blue whale. The research team documented the rhythms thanks to a few suction cups that kept a heart rate monitor attached to a whale swimming and diving around California's Monterey Bay.

Humpback whales use their flippers to create a barrier that traps gathered prey, which they can then usher towards their mouths by swatting the water. Using aerial photography and filming, researchers were able to capture this foraging strategy for the first time.